In '93 i have seen similar, but not that extreme long spouts, in all of Chengdu's teahouses, which were definitely not touristic, but in all gardens and neighborhoods used by locals. People drunk green tea from Gaiwan, read papers, played chess, listened to their caged birds singing, and occasionally had their ears professionally cleaned by folks that offered that service. In between waiters walked around and filled up empty Gaiwan from those kettles with very long spouts.I haven't been back in Chengdu since. Dunno if it is still like this. I loved hanging out in those teahouses.

In '93 i have seen similar, but not that extreme long spouts, in all of Chengdu's teahouses, which were definitely not touristic, but in all gardens and neighborhoods used by locals. People drunk green tea from Gaiwan, read papers, played chess, listened to their caged birds singing, and occasionally had their ears professionally cleaned by folks that offered that service. In between waiters walked around and filled up empty Gaiwan from those kettles with very long spouts.I haven't been back in Chengdu since. Dunno if it is still like this. I loved hanging out in those teahouses.

I went to a traditional teahouse in Chengdu last summer. The scene you describe is accurate. But they used relatively normal-looking kettles.

The long-spout teapot is more traditional in Chengdu. But the purpose of it is serving a lot of people in a row without running up and down (and it also helps cool down the water as people in Sichuan mostly drink jasmine green tea). So when there aren't that many people, a shorter spout (still longer than normal) is enough. Using a very long spout when not necessary would be a little showy. Nowadays I suspect there aren't many young waiters who have the skills to use the long spout, and most of those who can have joined the show business instead of staying in tea houses